CRUSA Foundation

CRUSA will promote the development of communities in protected areas

In order to strengthen the sustainable economic development of communities located near the country’s conservation areas, the CRUSA Foundation will focus its efforts on identifying strategic partners willing to invest and work on joint projects that will help to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of those communities.

This strategy is part of the CRUSA Foundation’s new approach to cooperation, which will be implemented starting this year in its four areas of interest: the environment, science and technology, education and strategic capacity.   The Osa Peninsula is the region that has benefited the most from these efforts, having received 70% of the eight million dollars that have been allocated to environmental initiatives over the last ten years. In addition, for several years, CRUSA has been directly involved in the conservation of the Peninsula through its support to the “Osa Campaign”.
According to Luis Diego Escalante, the president of CRUSA, “in order to consolidate a true conservation effort it is essential to develop sources of income in communities located near the protected areas, through the sustainable use of natural resources; otherwise, no effort to preserve the environment will be successful.” Some of the proposals to convert conservation initiatives into sources of income generation for local communities include the following:

• Sustainable production and consumption chains
• Ecotourism
• Sustainable energy production
• Integrated solid waste management projects

CRUSA is a private, non-political, non-profit Costa Rican foundation that donates resources from its own Endowment Fund. It also utilizes its financial solidity, credibility and administrative capacity to leverage resources from third parties and undertakes fundraising efforts for the projects and initiatives that it supports.

Escalante explained the Foundation’s commitment to Osa, which is one of the most biodiversity-rich regions on the entire planet, in the following terms:

“The Osa Peninsula, which is considered the ‘jewel’ of Costa Rican conservation, presents an extraordinary challenge: the preservation of its ecosystems. This challenge is receiving enormous support from international organizations, government authorities, our foundation and, even more importantly, from a community determined to ensure that Osa does not become just a Costa Rican legend for future generations”.

Thanks to its solid track record and accumulated experience, the CRUSA Foundation was chosen to be the administrator of the $26 million dollars that the United States Government has made available to Costa Rica as part of the debt for nature swap.
This weekend, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, the Minister of the Environment, Roberto Dobles, and other government officials, will visit the Osa Peninsula accompanied by members of CRUSA and representatives of the “Osa Campaign”, the Peace with Nature initiative and the Marviva Foundation.